masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgBoston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz heard lots of boos as he stepped to the plate in the top of the first inning today, defenders of phones everywhere still taking umbrage with the damage he inflicted in the visiting dugout last night.

They must have been disconnected, or he completely ignored them.

Ortiz singled up the middle with two outs to keep a rally alive, and Mike Napoli followed with an RBI double to give Boston a 1-0 lead.

Jason Hammel has allowed 14 runs in the first this…Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz heard lots of boos as he stepped to the plate in the top of the first inning today, defenders of phones everywhere still taking umbrage with the damage he inflicted in the visiting dugout last night.

They must have been disconnected, or he completely ignored them.

Ortiz singled up the middle with two outs to keep a rally alive, and Mike Napoli followed with an RBI double to give Boston a 1-0 lead.

Jason Hammel has allowed 14 runs in the first this season, the most of any inning. He struck out Mike Carp on his 27th pitch today to limit the damage.

Chris Davis struck out in the bottom of the first. He’s fanned in 22 consecutive games. He’s struck out nine times in his last four games, including today.

The Orioles are 9-4 in the final game of a three-game series that decides the series winner, going 4-1 at home and 5-3 on the road.

Prior to Davis and Adam Jones this season, the last Oriole with 15 or more RBIs in April, May, June and July was Miguel Tejada in 2006.

Since his first full season in 2010, no catcher in baseball has thrown out more runners trying to steal than Matt Wieters (98). Russell Martin is second with 90 and Yadier Molina is third with 87.

Wieters’ 4,182 1/3 innings caught lead the league since 2010 and are second in the majors to Molina’s 4,235 1/3. According to STATS, no catcher has more extra-base hits than Wieters’ 162 during that time. Molina is second with 158.

Here are the pitching matchups for the Astros series that starts Tuesday night at Camden Yards:

Tuesday: Wei-Yin Chen (5-3, 2.78 ERA) vs. Bud Norris (6-9, 3.93 ERA)
Wednesday: Miguel Gonzalez (8-4, 3.69 ERA) vs. Erik Bedard (3-8, 4.28 ERA)
Thursday: Chris Tillman (13-3, 3.62 ERA) vs. Jordan Lyles (4-4, 4.92 ERA)

That’s two right-handers and one left-hander for the Astros. That’s also tentative, with all the trade talk surrounding Norris and Bedard.

Update: Ortiz is now 2-for-2 with a single and two-run homer over the first three innings.

Boston 3, Orioles 0

Hammel started off Ortiz with a 92 mph fastball in the third, then threw two straight 85 mph sliders. Ortiz launched the second one for his 20th home run of the season.

Hammel has allowed 20 homers in 120 2/3 innings.

LJ Hoes struck out leading off the bottom of the third.